Banks were unfair, says the Kúria. The decision of the Kúria was unfair, says the Bank Association. It sure seems that somebody was unfair in this whole foreign currency loan story, and now it is up to the government to create a legal framework that is fair for all parties involved. Unfortunately the statements of Fidesz parliamentary group leader Antal Rogán do not suggest that a fair law is coming (e.g. “a bill will now be prepared to ensure that banks reimburse forex debtors in full”, Parliament needs to “do justice to debtors to whom the banks had caused losses”, and “it is not up to lawyers but Parliament to recover the money”). A municipal election is coming and with the relatively good performance of opposition parties – except MSZP – the government needs to show that it is on the side of the citizen. What a fair law would look like depends on the point of view but it would probably make everybody pay who was at fault. That includes banks – yes, dear banks, the average person has no idea what an exchange rate spread is even if they read the contract –, the government – though it wasn’t this one, but the state shamelessly promoted a risky product – and debtors, who were never forbidden from asking a financial expert about the risks of borrowing in a foreign currency. Now there is no need to feel sorry for the banking system, they made plenty of profits over the years, but it seems a bit unfair to put all the burden on them.
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